


Cold Winter, Warm Embrace

by orphan_account



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Battle, Caretaking, Fainting, Fever, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Graphic Depictions of Illness, M/M, POV First Person, Protectiveness, Self-Indulgent, Sick Character, Sickfic, Team Dynamics, Vomiting, Whump, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-25 21:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17732585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Cyrus has a weak constitution and has gotten sick in their first day of venturing through the Frostlands. He’s caught a rather bad stomach bug. He’ll need somewhere warm to rest so Alfyn, Therion, and Tressa are trying to rush him to Flamesgrace. Unfortunately for them, a big monster is blocking their path into town....(temporary summary)





	Cold Winter, Warm Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's been 5 months since my last fic, sorry if I kept you all waiting. I've been busy with school, vacation and other stressing things. I'll try my best to get more content out there, but remember, I don't get the urge to write a lot. Anyways, I wanted to try out some new things, darker stories, new ships. I tried to write fluff, I swear I did... ;-;
> 
> Make sure you read the tags, stay safe! Enjoy the fic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day! Here's Cyrus bein very sick.

 It was our first day voyaging through the cold Frostlands. The strange little group I had amassed has been doing well, despite our differences. Alfyn, the cheery apothecary; Therion, the aloof thief; Tressa, the outgoing merchant; and I, Cyrus, a professor at the Royal Academy of Atlasdam were all part of this traveling party. (group name pending) We all get along quite well except for the small scuffles between Therion and Tressa.

 It was our first day voyaging through the cold Frostlands. I knew that I had a weaker constitution than the rest of my teammates, but my scholarly abilities made up for what my physical abilities couldn’t. I was equal to them in battle. I was so sure that I wouldn’t bring them down.

 It was our first day voyaging through the cold Frostlands. We briefly passed through Atlasdam before arriving in the chilly area and unbeknownst to me, it was flu season there.

*    *    *

Our walking formation was simple. Two lead the way at the front of the group (Alfyn and I) while the other two followed behind (Tressa and Therion.) Perhaps it would’ve been a wiser choice I had stayed in the back but it appears that there is no need for that. The two T’s have been relatively quiet during this trip so far. Good news for me, I was racking up a strong headache at the moment.

The snow ambiently crunched beneath our feet as we trekked across the plains of pure white. Snowflakes gently floated through the air, not enough to obscure our view but still visible to the naked eye. Wind ravenously blew around us, while a slight drop in temperature didn’t seem to bother any of my fellow travelers, it chilled me to the bone.

I haven’t felt colder in all my years of being alive. The skin on my face felt like it was freezing into sheets. The wind cut into any exposed areas like blades, it was more painful than the time I froze my hand trying to cast a simple Ice spell. Unlike pain in a localized area, my entire body was susceptible to frostbite.

 However, no matter how much complaining I do in my mind, I cannot do a thing about the cold. I could easily warm myself with a controlled fire spell, even a simple one would do. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t muster the strength to cast a single spell. Lightheaded, weak, nauseous, the dull pain in my temple, I was not in a good state. If I had attempted to create even the smallest of flames, surely I would faint. All that I could do to keep warm was to hold myself and shiver, taking slow, shaky steps forward.

As my footing wasn’t the best, occasionally I would bump into Alfyn. Stepping onto the uneven ground or getting dizzy and swaying the wrong way, I found myself exchanging small apologies with him every single time we made contact.

He must’ve gotten wind that I wasn’t in my best form, for a few minutes later after our latest collision he said, “Professor, you feelin’ okay?” There was a hint of concern for me in his voice. Looking me in the eye with such a caring and kind look. Warms my heart.

“Ah, yes.” I blurted out, “I’m fine! Just dandy, a little chilly but it’s nothing that I can’t handle.” I was practically lying through my teeth, the words coming out in pure nerves.

“You wanna borrow my coat?” He offered, beginning to take off the thin looking article of clothing.

“No, no, it’s quite alright.” I declined, taking a quick glance at what he was wearing underneath. He would freeze much quicker than I would out here without that. No one could survive in the winter wilderness with a thin long sleeved shirt (with sleeves that went up to his forearm) and a leather vest. “You need it more than I do, Alfyn my dear. Wouldn’t want our only healer to be freezing to death, now do we?”

“Thanks for your concern but you’re shivering like crazy. Here. I insist.” He urged, handing the coat over to me. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. The cold never bothered me anyway.”

I slipped it on over my cloak, I was right. This coat was rather thin. Thin it may be, it was warm. The apothecary’s body heat still lingering.

“Tell me if ya need anything else, okay?” He smiled, his concerns being cleared. He certainly wore his heart on his sleeve.

“Of course,” I gave a small smile back, “Thank you.”

Our journey moved on quite a bit, thankfully without any interruptions. Our only goal being any towns that might be in the area if none are close to our location, we’ll be heading to Flamesgrace. Looking at the winding path ahead of us, it’ll be a while before we reach it.

Although my shivering has decreased by some amount, I continued to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Taking a glance at my hand, my palm was almost as white as the snow beneath it. Not a good sign. It was then that I noticed how light on my feet I felt. The dull pain in my temple quickly sharpened, instinctively, my hand massaged the area. Anything to curb the pain. My slow walk swiftly deteriorating into a weak stagger.

“Yo… Cyrus…!” Therion called out to me, his voice seemed to come from far away, echoing in the vast snowy field.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“Erm… what-“ I made an attempt to answer back to Therion but my voice was caught in my throat. I hastily shut my mouth. Slapping my hand onto it. It seemed that opening my mouth brought on an onslaught of nausea to rush through me. At this rate I was going to, in lack of a better term, throw up. A bit of panic went through me and I began reaching my other arm out. Trying to get Alfyn’s attention.

“Alfyn, I think Cyrus is gonna throw up,” Therion spoke up. His voice was loud and clear.

“Oh geez, the professor looks like he’s going to fall over.” Tressa’s normally cheery voice was now hushed and quiet. “Wait, this is very bad. Theri, we should catch up to them. Hey guys, wait up!”

I could hear those two trying to catch up with us. Their fast footfall seemed to be coming from miles behind us. Were they really that far away? Finally, I got a hold of Alfyn’s sleeve and gave it a light tug.

“Professor?!” He exclaimed, coming around and moving in front of me. I stopped walking, eyes on the ground, trying my best to keep myself upright. Even this was a challenge. I felt wobbly on my feet, head and stomach working in perfect harmony to be as painful as they could be.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What hurts? What’re ya feeling’?” Alfyn asked, speaking as calmly as he could. His words were fading into nonsense as ringing in my ears began to drown him out. The environment around me began to blur, gray fuzz soon becoming all that I can see.

“Uhm, I think I’m going to…” I began, my voice was quivering. This was more than simple nausea.

Alfyn soothingly rubbed my back, saying “You’re gonna throw up? It’s alright, just let it all out…”

That’s not it. I felt like I was about to something much worse. I took a small wavering step forward and that was it, my weight suddenly shifted. I felt my knees buckle. Gravity took it’s hold on me. Before my vision cut to black, I could hear voices calling out to me.

*    *    *

“Dude fell like a sack of potatoes…” “Therion, can’t you say anything better than that…” “The flame take me… He’s so pale…”

Familiar voices went in and out in the darkness. What happened..? I groggily opened my eyes, squinting at the influx of bright light. The white snow around me did not help with this one bit. I saw three figures towering above me, two standing and one kneeling beside me… Tiny details came into focus, one by one. Scruffy hair, short ponytail, slightly stubbly chin…

“...Alfyn?” I hesitated.

He quickly looked to me, “Oh bless Alferic, you’re awake! You fainted and took a pretty nasty fall. It’s only been a few minutes or so since you fell. You’re burning up, I could tell just by touching your back.”  
He leaned in a little more, placing his hand on my forehead, holding it there for a moment. “As I thought, you have a bad fever. This is way worse than your standard cold…”

Ah, that would explain how my body feels so awful, I was ill! And dreadfully so. I thought to myself. Should’ve seen this outcome sooner. How foolish it was of me to think that symptoms like these came with simply being cold. Fainting is something anyone can guess was part of something bigger.

“I’ll try to see if I have anything for fevers on hand, just sit back okay? Don’t try to get up just yet.” He told me, bringing his satchel around and rummaging inside it.

Tressa made her way over. The young merchant leaned down, asking me, “Professor, do you think you’ll be able to make it to Flamesgrace?”

“Quite a good question Tressa,” I told her. “I’d like the answer to that myself. It all depends on how I feel later. At the worse, one of you will have to carry my unconscious body all the way there.”  
“You better heal him quickly Alfyn. It’s dangerous for us to linger out here.” Therion said, not looking to the rest of us, “There are things probably waiting for us to drop our guard...”

“Thank you for keeping watch for us Theri!”  Tressa said in a singsong manner.

“Tch, I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing this for him…” You could hear him muttering. Tressa smiled in his direction. I smiled at the sight. I was about to ask the merchant a question, but then I felt something stirring from within me. The nausea from before had begun to settle in. My abdominal muscles rebelled against me, tightening up and preparing to eject my stomach contents out.

I rolled onto my side, hand zooming up and clamping my mouth shut once again. I could taste what was to come in the back of my throat. I had to contain myself this time. The others are close by, if I were to puke now, that would be a situation that none of us would like to be in. I  swallowed the small bit that came up.

Alfyn tapped my shoulder, “Feelin’ queasy again? I got just the thing.” He showed me a small vial filled with a clear liquid. “This should keep the nausea away, for now, come on sit up.”

He nudged me, I complied, rising up from where I was lying. Did I mention that I was lying in the snow? I felt like that is something I should mention right now. My hand was still on my mouth, I felt like I couldn’t trust it at the moment. Not with this upset stomach. I took the vial from Alfyn and looked it over, it has the appearance of slightly cloudy water. I moved my hand away.

I was about to uncork the vial when a deep, animalistic roar rang throughout the snowy plains, shaking the snow off some of the trees. Directly following the roar were the howls of wolves, by the sound of it, there was an entire pack out there.

“Guys, we got company,” Therion warned us, backing up and unsheathing his sword. Tressa followed his lead and whirled her lance out. They stood in front of Alfyn and I, at the ready for anything to come out and attack.

Two wolves leaped out of their hiding spots, circling around us, growling and snarling. One of them let out a few barks. On command, the roar rang out again. A large frost bear was bounding down a hill, coming straight for us.

“A frost bear?! What’s one doing all the way down here?” I said. Alfyn got up, readying his axe. Seeing as everyone was getting ready for a battle, pushed myself up, staggering to my feet. It was only fair that I should fight as well. I brought out my spellbook when Alfyn raised his arm up.

“I know you want to fight but you just fainted. You’re in no shape to be casting spells or dodging attacks.” Alfyn told me. “That’s why I want you to run away and get to Flamesgrace.”

“Alfyn, what are you saying?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch.2 will be coming up soon! a week after ch.2 is up, i'll be merging the two chapters together, so don't be alarmed.

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this, fluff may be my go-to genre but whump is the most fun. If you liked this and want to see more Alfrus content, leave a comment! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it, thanks for your continued support, and I'll see you in my next fic!


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